This Week In New Releases [Week Of 6th July 2012]

It's back. We all need a gentle reminder from time to time. This Week In New Releases from New Rising Media aims to do just that – remind you of the biggest, best and hottest new media releases to look out for this week. From the latest big screen blockbusters, to this week's most anticipated Blu-Ray discs, via details of the next big triple-A videogame to reach consoles. This isn't a total run-down of everything new this week, though, these are carefully hand-picked for your viewing/playing pleasure entirely by us, enjoy.

God Bless America (18)

On DVD Monday

What better way to celebrate the week of Independence Day than with a dark comedy hell-bent on portraying the very worst of America, before unloading ill-judged, blood-thirsty violence on it. From the director of Sleeping Dogs – a film in which a woman confesses to her fiancée she once tried it on with her dog, yep that one – Bobcat Goldthwait (we hope that's his real name), God Bless America finds a depressed, lonely and terminally-ill man (played by Joel Murray) driven to extreme violence against America's most repugnant citizens in a bid to restore order to the Greatest Country On EarthTM.

In a movie as violent in the extreme as it is a light-hearted mockery of the social decay of America; high school cheerleaders, reality TV show stars, preachy religious nuts and movie theatre-going cellphone users stand little chance of escaping the red-blue-and-white-tainted bloodbath. If Goldthwait can carry the whimsy and the playfulness of the premise through to imaginative and elaborate ways of offing his cast, this could be great.

21 Jump Street (15)

On DVD and Blu Ray Monday

There's few comedy match-ups stranger than that of Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street. That this remake of the late-80s TV series of the same name lives up to its billing is a testament to the fantastic, playful dynamic that the two deliver. The ex-stripper and Abercrombie and Fitch model Tatum brings the macho action screen presence and good looks, while Hill is ever-reliable in his staple comedy role, ably delivering some of the film's best one-liners (and there are some cracking ones, we assure you).

Inspired by the aforementioned TV series by Stephen J. Cannell (which first aired in 1989 and launched the career of Johnny Depp, amongst others), 21 Jump Street Hollywood Edition finds Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill ditching their newly-acquired police uniforms and cop push-bikes for high school attire in a bid to uncover and take down the suppliers of the latest street drug. It might not hit all the right notes (the Peter Pan finale feels at odds with the rest of the film), but thanks to the brilliant dynamic between the two leads and an astoundingly funny turn by Ice Cube as a foul-mouthed police chief, it's one of this year's funniest flicks. A 22 Jump Street is very much in order.

Jurassic Shark (15)

On DVD Monday

A quite abysmal week in new releases is topped off with one of the most so-bad-its-good looking B-movies ever. Yeh, we've seen the likes of Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus and enjoyed some schlocky B-movie laughs with Sharktopus, even become amazed at the way in which mainstream cinema is picking up some of these duds and returning the biggest of bucks (Piranha 3D, anyone?). But Jurassic Shark' frankly ridiculous premise looks abysmal even when compared to those shockers. Which can only mean it's brilliant, right?

Not that you'd expect anything else from the director of such upmarket films as Attack of the Giant Leeches, She-Rex and Beast. The film-maker in question, Brett Kelly, this time round unleashes a killer prehistoric shark on his cast of social delinquents, art thieves and bikini-clad college students after an oil company mistakenly drills too deep. Greedy beggars. Just watch the trailer below, it's an experience quite unlike any other. “Hey, you ugly fish!”

Richard Birkett

Jason England

I am the Founder and Editor-in-chief of New Rising Media. You can follow me on Twitter @MrJasonEngland.